Leaving people in splits with his latest special Mood Kharaab, Biswa Kalyan Rath on why Pretentious Movie Reviews was discontinued
Biswa Kalyan Rath and Kanan Gill
Few in India do observational comedy as well as Biswa Kalyan Rath. He believes that his stand-up comedy style is a mix of observations and storytelling. The comedian has blended them together for the Amazon Prime Video special, Mood Kharaab. In a chat with mid-day, the ‘mast aadmi’ talks about his learnings over the years, roping in comedian-friend Kanan Gill to direct his special, and how Pretentious Movie Reviews still has dedicated fans.
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Edited excerpts from the interview.
What learnings from your last two specials have you incorporated in Mood Kharaab?
In the first one [Biswa Mast Aadmi], I was telling my childhood stories. Then I ran out of them. I thought [relying] on childhood stories is not a sustainable business [laughs]. In Sushi, I talked about my observations, and realised that my stand-up [style] is a mix of observation and storytelling. There is a story-telling segment in Mood Kharaab, which is my favourite. It is odd and new. Creatively, I have reached a place where I can blend them together.
Why is the special titled so?
I was writing the jokes one after the other, and didn’t have a theme. Eventually, [I realised] these were all first-world problems, they are not real [laughs]. They just spoil my mood. Earlier, I would approach things with the view that they are bad, when in reality, only my mood is kharaab.
What are some of these first-world problems that spoil your mood?
I have a problem with the Metaverse. Can you believe it? It’s a ridiculous thing to hate because it is not even of this world. I have problems with online shopping, and fairytales. The basic problem is that fairytales don’t take care of logistics.
You recently conducted a masterclass on comedy writing. What did you learn?
When you try to teach, you understand what you are instinctively doing much better. I understood that simplicity is beautiful. We tend to get lost in so many complicated things. But at the end of the day, it is about emotion and jokes. You have to have the emotion people relate to, and the joke that releases
that emotion. You have to write the joke, understand the emotion behind it and everything falls in place.
How did Kanan Gill come on board as director?
This special was supposed to go out in 2020, but got delayed because of the pandemic. This was a long-running deal with Amazon Prime Video. They have been very supportive of comedy and making me money. I am thankful to them, mostly for the money [laughs]. People often ask, what does a director do in a stand-up comedy? I took a different approach with Kanan. I wanted someone who understands my performance style. I wanted a comedian-director to direct me, because when you are shooting and performing, you don’t get an objective view. We have a great chemistry and understand each other’s joke-writing approach. He has done a great job.
Have you two considered making another round of Pretentious Movie Reviews?
We are so grateful that people are still asking for it after nine years. At that time, we were going with the flow. Then, we ran out of extremely bad movies. Good movies are different, but bad movies are bad in the same way, and then your jokes become the same. We sensed that we were reaching the end point. We are glad it picked up because it made both our careers. Next year, it will be 10 years of Pretentious Movie Reviews. Rarely do shows have a great ending, I am glad we ended with people asking for more.
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